When Dusk Falls
by Evolutional
Summary: When Ultear Milkovich died, there were so many things she left behind. Meredy especially. Neither Meredy nor her child never knew how important they were until the summer Meredy's daughter, Ivory, turned 17. X821. The year Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere began to cripple under the weight of Ultear's past.
1. Prologue

X821

_Ultear Milkovich. Her name is something I have heard ever since I was born. My mother saw to that. _

_At first I didn't know who she was, just her name. I also knew she made my mother curl up in a ball and cry, her pink hair shielding her face from me. Needless to say, I hated her. Who was this woman that brought so much sadness to my family? When I told my mother this, she was shocked and her emerald eyes held something akin to revulsion. Then her eyes softened and she held me softly and whispered in my ear that I would know more than her name later on. _

_I was still not satisfied and probed further. But all my mother would tell me was that Ultear was someone she loved very dearly. _

_This was enough for me. It was then that my hatred of her shattered and something akin to awe and love began to grow for this mysterious person that my mother loved so much._

_As I grew older, more and more stories of Ultear were fed into me, as soon as I could properly understand them. Ultear became not just the mysterious shadow figure that my mother loved but someone real, with a personality and feelings. I loved her like a second mother and an older sister rolled into one._

_But even then, I never really understood the deep hidden layers of Ultear; the secrets piled on so thick that finding the truth seemed like finding a single teardrop in a murky ocean. Even my mother, who knew her so well, could never find the reasons behind Ultear._

_It was only until the summer I turned 17 that Ultear's secrets and past began to resurface, to press against us, harder and harder, trying to crush us all._

* * *

Underneath the shade of the oak tree, tiny figures laugh and dart around each other, like tiny fish. Their bright clothes and hair fly everywhere, creating bursts of colour in the picture as the gentle breeze caresses their faces and limbs. Nearby, a gaggle of adults watch fondly over the children, talking about the latest jobs they have taken on and the enemies they have faced. They smile and reminisce about the old days, when they themselves ran around, full of energy and ignorant of hardship, just like their children. A woman with blonde hair hugs a snoozing salmon haired man, as their daughter looks after the younger kids in the family.

A bell rings out in thundering tolls, and the children stop playing, staring with wonderment as a red haired woman and a blue haired tattooed man walk down the pathways holding hands and grinning. Quietly, the children whisper among themselves as the adults come up and greet the man and the woman.

"It's the 15th anniversary, isn't it?"

"Yeah, after Fairy Tail and-"

"You know Jellal and Erza have decided to-"

"It'll be so cool! Crime Sorciere and-"

The murmurs weaved through the children like an invisible snake. They watch and wait as the man and woman walk to the shade of the oak tree, their faces glowing with happiness. Tensely, the children wait for their announcement. The woman's voice rings out loud and clear.

"Today is a special day, everyone. The year, as most of you know, is X821. It has been exactly 15 years since we last gathered here underneath this same oak tree, which holds so many memories, to celebrate our guilds together. I am also told by Natsu that this tree also holds all the embarrassing photos taken of certain guild members."

The salmon-haired man, who had been sleeping so peacefully just before, let out a sudden whoop of "Erza!" much to the laughter of everybody else, especially the blonde woman who was sitting next to him. Erza smiled and continued on with her speech.

"Thank you Natsu. It was under this oak tree that Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere made their pact, a friendship that will last eternity. I ask you to join me, friends, to go and celebrate the anniversary of our twin guilds, Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere!"

* * *

Above the laughter and raucous goodwill, a figure sits, watching the jubilee intensely, her features crumpled up like paper, frowning with both frustration and puzzlement. She sits and rocks on the tree branch, not caring whether she falls or not. Nobody notices her past all of the leaves.

She mutters to herself.

"She's not here. The elders said she would be here. But she isn't. Oh no no no. This will not do at all. She has to be here."

The figure repeats this to herself, again and again and again, like a little mad chant. She pulls at her hair, her face on the verge of tears.

Then her back straightens and her face is smooth and pretty again. She smiles, but it is more like a crack on her face. Her chanting stops and she pulls the hood of her cloak over her head again.

"Ultear Milkovich, you haven't beaten me yet, you whipped dog."

[Prologue/End]


	2. Ritual No I: The Dance of Vesta

**_Ritual I- Dance of Vesta_**

_The smell of lime blossoms and pomelo wafted around on invisible breezes. Ivory inhaled and smiled, her eyes burning with the smoke that floated from the candles. Slowly, she began to rise, her fingers swollen and weeping pus from the candle flames. Still she smiled. Elation ran through her in small thrills and she began a wavering chant, her voice starting off soft and slow as she climbed into a circle of scented candles. Her body, mind and spirit cried out for more and the flames on the candles flared up, reaching higher and higher until they each became a glorious pyre. _

_She screamed with happiness._

_Her face set in a wide grin that looked set to burst off her face, she plunged her face, chest and arms into one of the pyres, drinking in the sensation that it caused. The chant increased in fervour and passion. She watched as her skin puffed and cracked and withered away, leaving her with nothing but blackened sticks for arms, and a pressure on her chest. Slowly, she pulled away from the pyre and moved onto the next, her chant increasing until her vocal cords and tongue were burned away so all she could do was rasp._

_When she finished making her rounds around the pillars of flame, she collapsed into the middle of the circle, grinning maniacally, her dried out body bubbling with heat._

_She had never felt such joy._

_And so she smiled, positively beaming as the darkness began to press at her eyeballs. Smiling as her body was claimed by a pair of eyes like twin moons. _

Smile, _the eyes said, _keep smiling.

* * *

Ivory screamed soundlessly. She scratched at her face and her eyebrows were furrowed. She had never felt so frustrated in her life.

It had been the twenty-second time this week she had tried to reach for a candle or a torch; something, anything, with a flame on top.

She quelled the urge and straightened her back, putting on a mask of calm. Her urges had been overwhelmingly bad when a fight had started out between Natsu Dragneel and Romeo Conbolt, two fire mages in the magic guild she belonged to. She had wanted to scream and smile and rush towards the fire at the same time. Lately, she had started to think that she had a death wish.

The door to her bedroom creaked and Ivory turned around, suddenly, stuffing the candle underneath the sheets on her bed. Her mother's face peeked around the doorway, creased with worry.

"Ivory, are you alright?" her mother stared at her, searching Ivory with those scarily emerald eyes of hers.

She wanted very much to scream out _No, I am not fine because I want to burn the hair off my head, and everything else on me! _but she quelled that urge as well.

The bed creaking with complaint, she hopped off it and hugged her mother.

"I'm fine Mothe-Meredy. I'm just tired, that's all." Ivory stopped to savour the strangeness of calling her mother by her name. Meredy had asked, no, insisted four weeks ago to start calling her by her name. She could feel her mother's need to fill up the silence of her father.

"Don't worry Ivory, Doranbolt will be back soon." Ivory smiled through her mother's shirt. It was just like her mother to pretend that her father's absence wasn't a good thing.

"Meredy, I think I'll be off to the guild now. I can't keep Team Echosmith waiting. I think we're going to take on an even more difficult mission this time!"

Her mother opened her mouth to say something, then pulled away from the hug, her mouth shutting with an abrupt click.

"You be careful then. I don't want to fix up any more accidents like last time.

She could see her mother's tiredness and her listless face and she smiled, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I will."

* * *

Bounding up the steps to the Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere joint guild hall, Ivory paused and nicked her thumb, smearing the blood that dribbled out on to the ground and waited. After a few moments, a magic circle appeared and she muttered the Ancient Summoning Spell, pressing her palms and fingers into the earth.

Then, from the earth, a dog started to meld from the earth, until a full-bodied _inugami_, a type of dog spirit, formed.

Ivory smiled as Rover glared at her and began to talk in her mind.

_Mistress, stop summoning me whenever you feel like it! Little bitches shouldn't be running around doing whatever they like._

She kept smiling. It wasn't exactly an insult to her. It was just in the _inugami's_ nature; prickly, angry and vengeful.

"Shush now Rover. Now begins the impossible task of finding the rest of Team Echosmith."

_Don't expect me to do your dirty work,mistress._

Now that she was armed and ready for battle, she took a deep breath and pushed the guild doors open.

The first thing that hit her face was the demon twins. Or rather, the water balloons of the demon twins hit her face.

Spluttering angrily, she wiped the water away from her face with a sweep of her hand, her face tingling from the impact. Demon Twin No. 1, Lillian Dragneel glared at her like a basilisk.

"We were meant to prank Mommy and Daddy when they came back, not you Iv'ry. You've ruined our prank now." Lillian pouted as Demon Twin No. 2, Angelina Dragneel, smiled innocently and made a rude gesture with her fingers.

Ivory sighed. At twelve, the twins acted half their age. At least they had inherited some of their father's fiery power and were handy in a battle, the skilled Fire Make users they were.

"Lillian! Angelica! Come back here right now!" A commanding voice thundered out from behind the twins. The twins smiled suddenly, and trotted back obediently to the figure behind them.

_Bingo! _Ivory thought, _Target number one of Team Echosmith locked in. _

It was a while before the figure stopped fussing over the demon twins so Ivory waited patiently, her face dripping wet and Rover snickering at her.

_The drowned rat look really suits you, mistress._

Ivory ignored him.

"So Leilani, aren't we meant to meet at the old oak tree at exactly twelve 'o' clock, which, let me remind you, was exactly five minutes ago!" Ivory watched as Leilani stopped fussing over the demon twins and began to squirm. The demon twins fled.

"Sorry, nee-chan…" Leilani blushed and let her hair fall over one side of her face.

It took two seconds before they started laughing out loud. Leilani Dragneel had her hands full being a being a big sister to the demon twins, so she rarely had time to act the younger sister to anybody. Ivory smiled. When they were both four-years-old they had agreed to let Ivory play the big sister and Leilani play the younger sister, and the act had stuck around ever since.

Leilani smiled and blasted Ivory's face with heat that radiated from her palms. Her magic speciality was Heat Magic, similar to her father's and her sibling's but not quite the same. She could raise or lower the temperature of the air or of objects, blasting it out through her palms.

"We wouldn't want those pretty white locks of yours getting soaked, would we?" Leilani smiled and playfully twirled a strand of Ivory's hair around her finger.

"White hair is boring; I look like an old lady. Pink hair is so much more fashionable." Ivory smiled back at her. They were the only female members of Team Echosmith.

_Bitches have to stick together, mistress._

Rover's angry voice resonated in her head and Ivory straightened her back.

"Time to get crackin', sister! We have to find those lazy louts!" She shouted with as much zeal as possible, getting a few stares from the other mages in the joint guild hall.

"Roger that!"

They raced down the corridors, Rover bounding resentfully after them. Ever since the buildings of both Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere had been expanded, it had been virtually impossible to find anyone. The place was almost a palace, with the courtyards, pools, gardens and even separate public baths.

Slowly, the hours began to tick away, and still no sign of other team members. Ivory began to grow more and more frustrated, while Leilani simply grew more and more puffed. Even though she was also tired and grumpy, Ivory had to grin. Although Leilani was thin and curvy in a way only super-diets could achieve, she was the biggest eater Ivory had ever seen, except for Droy, and she was not exactly the most physically honed of Team Echosmith.

Leilani's stomach growled and Ivory snapped.

"This is taking way too long. We need an attack plan!"

"Split up?"

"Nah, then we'll have to find each other as well."

"What about we try to find them in a systematic and orderly way? Like make a list of targets and find them in that order?"

"I think that sounds good. Don't talk so mathematical, though. It makes my head ache."

"Whatever you say, nee-chan."

Ivory sighed. Why couldn't the world just be full of girls?

_Bitches can't make pups without dogs. _Rover's condescending voice cut in.

"Who first, Ivory?"

"Let's get Peri first, then Aspen and we'll finish off with the stupidest of the bunch.

"C'mon Ivory, Evander ain't that bad. I think he's the best out of the boys actually."

Ivory sighed again.

"Let's just start searching, Leilani."

"Peri should be easy to find. He's always up on the roofs of Fairy Towers or sometimes even Crime Towers. Him and those birds of his."

Ivory nodded deeply, almost a half-bow, then yelled a short warning, flattening her self to the ground.

"Duck!"

A sweep of wind sliced through the air, a hair's width away from her back. It was followed by a triumphant whoop and gentle whir of feathers. It was closely followed by cussing from Rover.

_Stupid humans! Do they not ever learn-_

"Yeah! That totally worked didn't it, Lulu-chan?" A raucous little voice cut through the silence that followed the attacked.

Ivory climbed up from the ground, glaring at the little boy that was chatting obliviously to an eagle or hawk of some kind.

"Well well Ivory, looks like we found our third member of Team Echosmith. Peri-kun is already here, although looks like he's still working on that Wind Magic of his."

Ivory smiled, despite her almost-disaster.

"Hey Peri-kun, aren't you forgetting something!"

The boy turned and grinned, waving his hands in greeting.

"Hi Ivory-senpai and Lei-senpai! Did you see my awesome attack!? It was totally cool wasn't it?"

Peri continued babbling while the two girls grinned inwardly. Peregrine Redfox was the youngest in his family at thirteen-years-old, behind two older sisters, and he was 'babied to death', as he liked to put it. It was because of this that he sought his freedom through flying and Wind Magic, with the birds that followed him as flock leader his constant companions. Unbeknownst to him, his family had a good reason to baby him. When he was two-years-old, he was captured by a crazy mage, who had grafted Exceed wings into his body, through many weeks of experimentation and torture. When Fairy Tail had found him again, retribution had been swift and brutal, but Peri had already been damaged beyond repair mentally. His whole consciousness had had to be fully wiped out, reverting him back to his mental newborn state. Even now, he had the mentality of an eleven-year-old. He also was the only ever human user of Aera.

Peri stopped babbling after a while and his grin faltered.

"Ivory-senpai, did I miss the whole team meeting at the old oak?! I swear on Lulu-chan's feathers that it was just simple mistake…I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry, nobody else turned up. Now we just have to find Aspen and Evander."

"Aspen's easy. I think he was napping at the roof of Fairy Towers, near the west wing of the guild. Lulu-chan and I saw him." The eagle nodded, her golden eyes glowing.

Leilani smiled. "Looks like we've got Aspen locked in and ready for ambush."

_Why Aspen, mistress? He's a lazy self-absorbed human, like an over-fed house dog._

Ivory had to agree with Rover but she kept silent.

She quickly sliced her thumb again and repeated the whole summoning ritual. Two large griffins appeared and she greeted them.

"'Morning to you, Esperanza and Akemi. Could you please take us to Fairy Towers on the west wing of the guild, please."

_Whatever you say, mistress._

The two griffins, Esperanza and Akemi, were a lot more obedient and mild-mannered than Rover but they made for less interesting conversations.

Ivory climbed on to the Akemi's shoulder blades, just in front of her wings and motioned for Leilani to do the same with Esperanza. Peri grinned and quickly made a pair of dove-grey wings pop from his back.

The griffins bounded into the sky and the soared up into the wide expanse of blue, followed closely by Peri and Lulu-chan. The griffins shrieked with the joy of being airborne and Ivory whooped along with them, with Rover bounding along behind them. How that _inugami_ could fly, Ivory had a feeling she would never know.

After about five minutes of purely wasting their time, the griffins dived back down to the ground and landed on the tallest conical roof of Fairy Towers, just inches away from a sleeping figure.

Leilani sniffed. "Aspen would obviously waste his time sleeping like this. Stupid little viper needs to sun otherwise his cold-blooded butt will freeze up."

"Lei-senpa, don't be so mean. You know that Aspen-senpai needs his tanning session, otherwise he won't be able to use magic." Peri pouted at Leilani's words.

Aspen stirred and opened his eyes, blinking at the harsh sunlight and the grim faces of Esperanza and Akemi, before swearing and sending out tendrils of poison.

"What the hell!"

Peri smiled and ran over to him, all while Leilani turned her back on Aspen.

"It's time to wake up Aspen-senpai. Team Echosmith is meant to be meeting."

Aspen calmed down at the sight of his team members and his face transformed into the lazy grin that he usually wore. Aspen was the nineteen-year-old son of Fairy Tail's Kinana and Crime Sorciere's Cobra, and while being a powerful Poison Magic mage, he was laid-back and lazy, usually not caring about many of the missions Team Echosmith went on. He didn't even care that he was sixteenth on the _Mages I Would Most Like To Be My Boyfriend _list in Sorcerer Magazine .

_Stupid house dog. Mistress, he's a worthless little piece of scum._

"Shut up Rover. And Aspen, why weren't you there at the old oak tree?" Ivory frowned and Rover growled.

Aspen yawned lazily.

"Whatever White-head. I couldn't be stuffed to care." Blinking, he stretched and jumped off the roof of Fairy Towers, laughing while he did so.

Leilani forgot her pretended silence and screamed, while the rest of the team peered over the edge of the roof and grinned.

"He got you there Lei-senpai."

The Poison mage had jumped onto the back of his basilisk, Honey Boo, that waited below, sticking its head out of a window.

Aspen smiled his lazy smile at Leilani and her increasingly angry face.

"Team Echosmith, huh? Looks like there's still one person missing from the crew. Let's go and find that lazy little douche."

"Evander ain't as lazy as you!" Leilani screamed at Aspen, who shrugged and gestured for them to climb aboard their griffins.

They did so, and the griffins launched themselves into the sky, with Peri and Aspen following close behind. Rover snarled and jumped into the air last.

Ivory sighed. In general, Evander was always a hell of a lot harder to find than Aspen or Peri or even Leilani. At least the others had tell-tale signs of where they were, but Evander seemed to be able to disappear.

Evander Fernandes, son of Crime Sorciere guild master Jellal and Fairy Tail guild master Erza and one of the most annoying mages around, at least to Ivory. He used his mother's Requip Magic combined with his father's Heavenly Body Magic; a powerful combination. He had everything: loving parents, plenty of friends, powerful magic and a one-way ticket to being an S-Class mage. Ivory hated him for that and she sometimes wondered why she even got into a team with him.

The griffins circled around in the sky, trying to find a flash of burgundy hair on the ground, but once again, luck was not on their side. Rover was not even bothering with the search now, while Peri and Lulu-chan practised their manoeuvres. The griffins shrieked with impatience; hovering was not something they like to do.

_Mistress, would you like to go and search on the ground?_

Ivory contemplated the suggestion and nodded.

"Hey guys, I'll be heading to the guild now. Maybe he's inside the actual guys fly over to the old oak tree and meet me there in ten minutes."

"Sure White-head."

"Go ahead nee-chan."

Ivory glided down to land and sent Esperanza back into the earth, Rover watching silently.

_Hurry up, mistress. It's almost four-o-clock and you don't have much time._

"'Kay, Rover"

She raced back along the endless corridors to the main hall where the Demon Twins ran around terrorising everyone and bunches of wizards sat around and discussed what jobs they had. No burgundy hair here.

Maybe he was in the east wing or maybe in Crime Towers, or maybe in his dorm in Crime Hills, or maybe in the gardens, or maybe-

She hit something solid and she rubbed her forehead. It was someone's chest. She ignored it and growled.

"Watch where you're going, doofus-head!"

"I'm sure I will next time, Ivory." A rich voice permeated her anger and she looked up to see the face of Jellal, the Crime Sorciere guild master smiling at her.

Ivory flushed and waved her hands about awkwardly. Even though he was like a second father, she still tried to be polite to him. "S-sorry about that. I didn't know it was you."

Jellal kept smiling. "Don't worry about that. So, how's your mother going?"

Ivory stiffened. Jellal knew the true reason her mother was like a listless shell of her former self. At first, Doranbolt and her mother were loving parents, both to their daughter and to each other. It was only when she was twelve-years-old had the beatings started. Her father, Doranbolt, would fly into such rages and hit her mother with a whip, his eyes wide and blood-shot, spittle flying from his mouth.

She still remembered the crack of leather on flesh and bone. The awful thing was, her mother would lie unnaturally still and stare at some unknown distance with a blank look. At first, Ivory had though it was because her mother was strong and could bear the beatings, but after a while, she realised that, while whipping, Doranbolt would cover up the memory of the whippings, so Meredy had no memory of it as he brought the steel-tipped whip down. Blood would fly everywhere and splatter on the walls, along with chunks of flesh. Sometimes, when her mother angered her father, he would uncover the memories of the whippings and her mother would freeze up. She remembered crying and crying, as she watched from the top of the stairs, because she couldn't do anything or because she was too scared to tell anybody.

It was only when she was 15 that any change happened. Jellal and Erza had decided to come to the family home to visit. Rumours had been spread of the strange noises that came from their house, and the two guild masters had come to check on them. At first everything had gone well. Her father had been courteous, although cold and disdainful and her mother had forced a smile on her face. It was only when her mother dropped her father's glass of rum had he pulled out his whip and started to whip her. Erza had slugged the man right there, her eyes hollow with the horror she had just faced.

Ivory had been so happy then, almost insanely so, and the secrets bottled up inside of her had poured out. Jellal and Erza had been livid but also shocked that something like that could have happened to any of their guild mates. They had agreed to keep it a secret but had also given Doranbolt long and demanding quests that required him to be away from the guilds for months on end. Now, only occasionally did he come back to spend the few stars he earned on drinks.

She gave him a sad shake of her head as his jaw clenched. "Same as usual."

Her mother had been in such shock that the memories of the beatings had had to be covered up, but it had also caused her mind to suffer a great blow, a blow so great that even after two years, Meredy had not yet recovered from it.

"So, Ivory, are you looking for that idiot son of mine?" Ivory pulled herself out of her sombre mood and grinned.

"Yep!"

_Mistress, if I might suggest haste in finding your Evander._

"Shut up Rover. Why can't you go silent like before?" She waved to Jellal.

"Bye Jellal! I'll tell Evander that you called him an idiot."

"Sure, tell him that."

She smiled and walked away from the conversation, her mind listing the places where Evander might've been. A purple flicker caught her eye and she froze. It was the fire of Romeo Conbalt. The urges started up again, a whisper in her mind that she couldn't ignore.

_Plunge your hand in the flame. Light the candle. Plunge your hand in the flame, light the candle. Plunge your hand in the flame light the candles. Plungeyourhandintheflamelightthecandle._

She walked closer and closer to the flame, Evander now forgotten. People started to murmur around her, wondering what she was doing. Pyres of light poured from Romeo's arms as he lazily played with his magic. Tentatively, almost hesitantly, she plunged her arm into the flame and watched as her skin began bubble and crack.

She threw back her head and let out a scream of ecstasy, yet only this time, it was joined by the screams of others.

* * *

The figure has almost given up. Another week and she would have left to seek the White Mage elsewhere. But as she sits, pulling out her hair and thinking of the beating the elders would give her, she hears a scream. It is a pure scream of energy and elation, of freedom and life. She stops pulling at her hair and smiles.

"Well Ultear. It seems that you haven't managed to hide her."


End file.
